High achiever in farming invests in future farmers

Logan Wallace’s life story so far is a veritable source of inspiration. Grounded in hard work, overcoming challenges and aiming for the top, he continues to push himself to achieve, driven by the desire to do better, and to give something back to others by passing on his knowledge and skills to the next generation of young farmers.

Logan grew up in South Otago, his parents Alexa and Ross farming at Beacon Hill, Waipahi. With farming in the blood, Logan set his sights on training for his career choice, and knew he needed to find the right course to suit his needs.

“I’m dyslexic – I’m really good at Maths and Science, but I struggle with English. I wanted to find a practical-based course that would suit my strengths”.   

He enrolled in the Certificate in Agriculture programme at Telford and had a successful year, graduating, and also achieving first prize for the highest marks in his class. This spurred him on to do year two, where he completed a Diploma in Agriculture, graduating at the end of 2009 and also receiving the finance prize for his class.

Logan said even though passing exams was made more challenging by his dyslexia, he still managed to pass on his own merits, and he knew the support was there if he needed it, as he progressed through his two years of study at Telford. In his Diploma year, Logan said the support from staff was great, especially around the bigger projects they were required to complete.

Looking back on his time training at Telford, Logan says the things that have been most useful have been the skills he learnt and connections he’s made in farming.

“The engineering skills I picked up have been valuable and farm contacts I gained during work experience have been really valuable”.

And he still manages to keep in touch with a couple of classmates, even though they all ended up heading in different directions after graduation.

Logan had a job lined up in Australia to go to after he graduated, but due to economic uncertainty at the time, it fell through. Very quickly he picked up another job, but this time he was deliberately picky and turned down two jobs before choosing a position on a sheep and grain farm at Waiwera South.

“It was the best decision I made” he said. “My boss was keen on learning and if I had a better way of doing something he would learn from me, or if he knew a better way of doing it, I would learn from him”.

Logan said there was always the challenge of how they could find a better way of doing things, which propelled them to achieve.

After thirteen months there, Logan was headhunted for a seasonal harvesting job in the UK. Having always planned to work and travel, he seized the chance. “It was great going with real security in having a job when I arrived.”   

He was invited back to do a second harvest the following year, this time he was put in charge of  grain storage, handling and dispatch, and enjoyed the extra responsibility he was given in the role.

In between his two UK seasons, Logan fitted in harvest and seeding in Western Australia. In 2013, when he finished his second season in the UK and came home, Logan was presented with the opportunity to take over running the family farm, which he accepted. In 2018, he purchased all the farm shares and leased the land from his parents, who were thrilled to hand over the reins to Logan.

He said on the farm generally things are going really well, but there’s always areas he’s still wanting to improve. Take the lambing percentage which has taken a bit of a battering this spring with recent bad weather.

“This year’s been challenging with cold, wet weather after the snow we had. It’s knocked the lambs back a bit”.

Young Farmer of the Year contest

Logan entered his first Young Farmer of the Year contest in 2014, and ended up making it into the Otago Southland Regional Final, placing 2nd overall. He repeated his 2nd placing in 2015, saying, “I learnt a lot from this performance about the importance of planning and staying calm”.

In 2016 he won the Otago Southland Regional Final, qualifying for the Young Farmer of the Year National Final. In the national final he placed fifth overall, as well as winning the Agrisports prize and second place in the practical section.

2018 was to be Logan’s year, when everything came together and he won the overall Young Farmer of the Year contest, placing first in Agri skills (practical), Agrisports and Agrigrowth (exam, human resources and interview).

“It’s slightly addictive, but also going back for a second grand final is not a decision you make lightly, there’s a lot of stress and hard work”.

Just to up the ante, at the same time Logan’s farm was entered in the 2018 Otago Ballance Farm Environment Awards, which he and his parents subsequently won.

It turned out to be a perfect match of material he was able to utilise in the Young Farmers competition.

“What I learnt from the Ballance Farm Environment Awards National Final, we were doing in Young Farmers”.

He said the fortuitous alignment of information had a lot to do with what’s important to know in farming today.

In the competition environment of Young Farmers, Logan said the skill base he learned while at Telford helped him to excel.

“The quality of the teaching of practical skills I learnt at Telford gave me a big advantage”.

Investing in future farmers

Logan said when he came home from overseas and took over the farm, he wanted to get involved with Telford again by becoming a work experience farm. Since 2013, Logan’s hosted a steady stream of keen Telford students, who learn and perfect their skills through work placements on farms.

“The biggest year I had thirteen students, it was about one every three weeks. It’s great to be able to pass on what I’ve learnt through attending Telford, and my other experiences in farming”.

The reward for Logan is watching things click into place for students as their classroom learning kicks into action on the farm. He said he enjoys getting to see the students ‘get’ what they’re learning on paper is actually important on the practical side of farming.

“That’s one of the cool bits. And helping them to refine their techniques in practical skills”.   

Logan’s continuing his supporting relationship with Telford, and was invited to be on the Advisory Committee, a role which provides another opportunity to be a positive influence in farming.

He says the motivation to keep doing better on the farm is constant: his long-term goals are to achieve 160% consistent lambing, and 20% of lambs away at weaning with 18kg carcass weight.  
 
It’s clear Logan is a passionate advocate for farming who is looking ahead to how things will be in  years to come, as he wants to be an influence now on those outcomes for farmers.

“I want to help improve the regulations that farmers are subject to, so they are actually able to farm successfully in the future”.

It’s reassuring to think the future of farming is in such capable hands.